ResearchMed wrote:
We've found that many of the rewards travel cannot be booked online.
(And those that can be booked on line, seem to be the ones we don't want, or at least don't want to use these days.)

The only annoyance we've found is getting through to the right "desk" or department.
Once we get the right person, they seem to work pretty hard to check various flights and dates to get two of the class we want.
But yes, it would probably be easier if I could do it myself.

Thus far, it's definitely worth it.

The real time consuming part was - and continues to be - learning the tricks. But the initial, important learning curve was quick.

RM

I see.

The one crappy thing I see is that you have too book round trip fares. Wife and I were hoping to fly into HNL, stay a few days for friends wedding, then when they go off to wherever for their honeymoon, we jet over to Maui for 3-4 more days, and then fly home from there. That doesn't seem to be possible using Korean Air to book Delta, unless we get an intermediate flight back again to HNL.

I can't speak to the specific itinerary and airline you are working on, but one of the good things that many people like is that one does *not* need to book round trip. And there's no extra charge for doing a one-way, which is something the cruise folks often like (e.g., for one way transatlantic cruise travel).

Are you sure about the requirement to book round trip?

Also double check about stopovers. Some awards travel allow stopovers (not just long connections) with no extra points.

RM

Speaking to using Korean Air miles on partner flights, this is echoed on several sources from a google search...so it appears...yes I'm sure. But not happy about it.

I guess I didn't realize you were wanting to use Korean Air Skypass Miles.
It seemed at first like you were accumulating Alaska Miles or Amex Miles?
Sorry if I missed that you already had Korean Air miles.

And yes, I did scroll down on that link, and for that one combo, using Korean miles, and there it was: round trip is required.
(There may be other situations that require roundtrip; we just never encountered them... yet.)

But... if you are starting with Amex points, then why do you need to use only Korean awards, on other airlines?

Sorry if I'm missing something.
IF you want to PM me a more specific list of awards you have and what exact itinerary is your preference, then I could try to take a more informed look.
(Sorry - I feel like I'm losing track here now )

RM

No worries...we do have (and will have) a lot of skymiles that we were planning to use for our Hawaii trip. More than likely plenty to get us there and back on Delta.

But...we also have 150k UR points...and the thought of using just 50k of those for our trip by transferring to Skypass and booking Delta would be pretty cool...so just doing some investigating...

gvsucavie03 wrote:Sorry to sidetrack from the airline miles discussion...

Citi Double Cash is annoyingly low with credit limits... Just got a second limit increase to a whopping $6,000. I'll never get close to that amount, but for those trying to stay low on credit usage it is aggravating.

I'll give you a tip--open up a different Citi Card, get a big limit, and then convert to a Double Cash. I converted an old Citi Dividend with a 20k limit to Double Cash. My mother, whose income is 3x mine, applied on my recommendation and only was approved for $18k.

Thank you for the link. Initially I was very encouraged by the opportunities offered by Korean Air. But as I continued reading Lucky's description of how to use it, I decided against it. One can definitely save a lot of points and miles by going through Korean Air. The problem is with all the calls and paperwork that accompany it. It seems that Korean Air is such a bargain because it has a high barrier to entry.

This was illuminating. Thanks again,
Victoria

WINNER of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. |
Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)

Thank you for the link. Initially I was very encouraged by the opportunities offered by Korean Air. But as I continued reading Lucky's description of how to use it, I decided against it. One can definitely save a lot of points and miles by going through Korean Air. The problem is with all the calls and paperwork that accompany it. It seems that Korean Air is such a bargain because it has a high barrier to entry.

Thank you for the link. Initially I was very encouraged by the opportunities offered by Korean Air. But as I continued reading Lucky's description of how to use it, I decided against it. One can definitely save a lot of points and miles by going through Korean Air. The problem is with all the calls and paperwork that accompany it. It seems that Korean Air is such a bargain because it has a high barrier to entry.

travellight wrote:for those who got the United mileage explorer card, don't cancel until close to the end of the year when the fee hits. They sent me two more United passes right before renewal. I then called to cancel and they gave me $100 credit which more than offsets the annual fee.

Another advantage of keeping the United CC is it gives you better award availability (the same award availability Gold and better members see). I kinda/sorta wished I had kept mine just for this reason (with a $100 credit I definitely would have).

Thank you for the link. Initially I was very encouraged by the opportunities offered by Korean Air. But as I continued reading Lucky's description of how to use it, I decided against it. One can definitely save a lot of points and miles by going through Korean Air. The problem is with all the calls and paperwork that accompany it. It seems that Korean Air is such a bargain because it has a high barrier to entry.

travellight wrote:for those who got the United mileage explorer card, don't cancel until close to the end of the year when the fee hits. They sent me two more United passes right before renewal. I then called to cancel and they gave me $100 credit which more than offsets the annual fee.

Another advantage of keeping the United CC is it gives you better award availability (the same award availability Gold and better members see). I kinda/sorta wished I had kept mine just for this reason (with a $100 credit I definitely would have).

Ditto, I cancelled mine a few months ago and would have been glad to keep it for $100.

"Bottom Line
If you’re a Chase United Explorer cardholder, you’ll see more award seats available than folks who don’t have the card. Even if there are NO award seats available for non-cardholders, you’ll be able to book an award seat, unless the flight is sold out.

Folks who have the card can get access to more flights, better routings, and lower level award seats. This can save you time and frequent flyer miles.

This is a really great perk! And it’s very useful especially if you have to travel at peak times, like during holidays, school vacations, and special events."

That is great to know about, Btwolf. Also, it has primary car rental insurance. And, if you have elite status, you can get upgraded on award flights, not just paid flights.

Another tip, this time on Chase's Fairmont card which I just churned and got the rewards on: 2 free nights, 3rd night free with 2 paid nights, 1 room upgrade, and 1 suite upgrade, plus $50 dining.
-the dining can be separate from the hotel stay; I plan to go out to brunch in my town with it rather than spend it at the Plaza hotel in NY which will be more expensive imo.
-the Plaza in NY and Savoy in London are the most expensive and very restrictive. You can only apply one stay certificate there.

And last, I found this out after spending time on flyer talk researching it, I saved $300 yesterday with this trick.... if you book the Plaza hotel, the standard room is $825/night. I was ready and willing to pay this and had it booked. I then found out on FT that they will honor third party websites rates and found the same room at the Plaza for $547 on a different website. I called Fairmont and they were really great; they matched that rate and gave me an extra 10% off so my room was only $492 which saved me $330. After applying the free night certificate, I will stay at the Plaza in NY for $246/night plus tax.

travellight wrote:Another tip, this time on Chase's Fairmont card which I just churned and got the rewards on: 2 free nights, 3rd night free with 2 paid nights, 1 room upgrade, and 1 suite upgrade, plus $50 dining.
-the dining can be separate from the hotel stay; I plan to go out to brunch in my town with it rather than spend it at the Plaza hotel in NY which will be more expensive imo.
-the Plaza in NY and Savoy in London are the most expensive and very restrictive. You can only apply one stay certificate there.

And last, I found this out after spending time on flyer talk researching it, I saved $300 yesterday with this trick.... if you book the Plaza hotel, the standard room is $825/night. I was ready and willing to pay this and had it booked. I then found out on FT that they will honor third party websites rates and found the same room at the Plaza for $547 on a different website. I called Fairmont and they were really great; they matched that rate and gave me an extra 10% off so my room was only $492 which saved me $330. After applying the free night certificate, I will stay at the Plaza in NY for $246/night plus tax.

Yeah if folks want to get the free 2 nights at any Fairmont they'd better act fast. Chase has canceled the deal but there's still a couple of zombie links up last I checked that will allow you to get it. I was going to hop on this and use it at the Fairmont in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya, but then I did a little reading, and it's a terrible use for the certificates. Paid reservations get full board and free game drives. Those using the certificates don't and the costs more or less add up to the cost of paying for a night! I could definitely use the certificates at the Plaza or Savoy, but as you pointed out these are hard to use. Outside of those locations, I'm just not sure I'll be where I could use them. Definitely a great deal for anybody headed to Maui or San Francisco though.

dbr wrote:
This can be strongly affected by where you fly. In particular being in a Delta captive city can make Skymiles more useful than the gyrations necessary to use "more valuable" currencies. YMMV

My local airport is a Delta hub, and I have never earned a single Skymile. It's actually often cheaper to book flights on Delta using some of their partners' miles rather than Delta's own Skymiles. They're commonly referred to as Skypesos in the travel hacking community. I travel fairly often and have been able to get plenty of use out of other airline currencies. Of course if you don't have flexibility it limits you.

Could you elaborate?

We are going to Hawaii in 2018, I'm accumulating Skymiles really quickly via the Amex business cards to fly under chase 5/24. Already most of the way there (based on todays rates) to fly free...by later this year we will have almost double the miles required via signup bonuses only. So we're pretty set planning to use Skymiles for these flights.

That said, I also live near a Delta hub, and it's def our preferred airline. Our travel dates are also usually very flexible. What do you prefer to use over skymiles?

Korean Air, for example, only charges 25k miles roundtrip from the US to Hawaii in economy or 45k roundtrip in first class. Delta doesn't have an award chart, but I just did a quick check and the Delta flights were more than Korean charges for first class. Korean and Delta are partners, so you can book award flights on Delta metal with Korean miles. Korean has their own cobranded credit card with US Bank I believe, and you can transfer miles from UR or SPG. Flying Blue is also another good option for flying on Delta metal. You can fly roundtrip to Europe in economy for 50k which is cheaper than Delta.

Basically if you want to get maximum value you need to research and understand all airline programs, including foreign partners.

Enlightening!!

But it says it can't be booked online when I looked up my local airport to HNL. This type of booking has to be done over the phone?

I'm not sure specifically about booking Delta flights with Korean miles, but many partner flights can't be booked (or even searched) on the airline's website. You could search the flights on Delta or use another tool like the award.flights Chrome extension to find the specific flights you want on the specific date you want to travel and call and book. If you already have the flight numbers it should be an easy process. If you just call and expect the agent to search for you it's probably going to be a major hassle, and they may miss options you could've found on your own.

I am not "BeneIRA", but I think he meant that the sign up bonus will "now" be decreased to 50K.

In the link attached, there are quotes from the Chase executive Pam Codispoti (hope I got the spelling right), indicating that the 100K UR points bonus offer ends on Jan-11 for on-line, and on March-11 for in-branch applications. So if you are not quite ready to apply for the card right now, you still have a couple of months but will have to make a trip into a Chase branch.

There is also quite lively discussion on this topic on reddit as well.

This thread seems to have cooled down, but just thought I'd add that the in-branch availability of the 100K bonus for the CSR is indeed true...I just did it yesterday. Also, the customer service reps confirmed that as of right now it will continue to be available till March.

Just finished the Wells Fargo $150 bonus with 1k spend. Just got the Barclay Card Arrival which is 50,000 points. I don't travel so I'll be doing the partial redemption for $250 in Home Depot gift cards to get a sweet Bluetooth controlled electric smoker

pennstater2005 wrote:Just finished the Wells Fargo $150 bonus with 1k spend. Just got the Barclay Card Arrival which is 50,000 points. I don't travel so I'll be doing the partial redemption for $250 in Home Depot gift cards to get a sweet Bluetooth controlled electric smoker

I've got a $500+ travel purchase I need to make. How about you do the purchase for me, and I'll send you the cost minus $125.

pennstater2005 wrote:Just finished the Wells Fargo $150 bonus with 1k spend. Just got the Barclay Card Arrival which is 50,000 points. I don't travel so I'll be doing the partial redemption for $250 in Home Depot gift cards to get a sweet Bluetooth controlled electric smoker

I've got a $500+ travel purchase I need to make. How about you do the purchase for me, and I'll send you the cost minus $125.

For those with the Chase Sapphire Reserve did your 100,000 point bonus post immediately after you hit the required minimum spend? I hit the $4,000 (not including the $450 fee) in spend a couple of days ago and am still waiting for the bonus. Pretty sure when I hit the minimum spend for the Chase Sapphire Preferred the bonus was applied immediately.

lkt102 wrote:For those with the Chase Sapphire Reserve did your 100,000 point bonus post immediately after you hit the required minimum spend? I hit the $4,000 (not including the $450 fee) in spend a couple of days ago and am still waiting for the bonus. Pretty sure when I hit the minimum spend for the Chase Sapphire Preferred the bonus was applied immediately.

It showed up in my pending points a few days after I hit the minimum spend. It didn't actually hit my available points until my statement closed. You can always send Chase a secure message on their site just to confirm that you hit the minimum spend if you're worried.

pennstater2005 wrote:Just finished the Wells Fargo $150 bonus with 1k spend. Just got the Barclay Card Arrival which is 50,000 points. I don't travel so I'll be doing the partial redemption for $250 in Home Depot gift cards to get a sweet Bluetooth controlled electric smoker

I just opened the WF checking account with $250 bonus. Will do one for the wife, too.

lkt102 wrote:For those with the Chase Sapphire Reserve did your 100,000 point bonus post immediately after you hit the required minimum spend? I hit the $4,000 (not including the $450 fee) in spend a couple of days ago and am still waiting for the bonus. Pretty sure when I hit the minimum spend for the Chase Sapphire Preferred the bonus was applied immediately.

lkt102 wrote:For those with the Chase Sapphire Reserve did your 100,000 point bonus post immediately after you hit the required minimum spend? I hit the $4,000 (not including the $450 fee) in spend a couple of days ago and am still waiting for the bonus. Pretty sure when I hit the minimum spend for the Chase Sapphire Preferred the bonus was applied immediately.

It showed up in my pending points a few days after I hit the minimum spend. It didn't actually hit my available points until my statement closed. You can always send Chase a secure message on their site just to confirm that you hit the minimum spend if you're worried.

I worded my question poorly and did mean the bonus showing up in the pending points. As suggested I followed up with a secure message and the rep confirmed that I had met the required minimum spend. Hopefully the bonus shows up in a few days.

Barefootgirl wrote:I've never flown Southwest before, but just learned they are my best bet for flights between IAD and ATL. I'll be making several of those flights over the coming year.

Going to look into their points program. Any tips for saving or earning with them, is appreciated.

1) The Chase Sapphire Reserve is still your best bet. You can earn 100K Ultimate Reward points if you open in branch. Ultimate Rewards transfer 1:1 to Southwest.

2) There are three Southwest credit cards: Business, Premier Personal, and Plus Personal. Right now you can get an unprecedented 60K bonus from the business card. You can get a 50K bonus from the personal cards. The Plus card has a lower annual fee.

3) If you get 110K points in one calendar year, you'll get the companion pass which is awesome. Google it. Ultimate Reward transfers don't count but miles from the Southwest credit card do, so you can get there with two credit card bonuses.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is still your best bet. You can earn 100K Ultimate Reward points if you open in branch. Ultimate Rewards transfer 1:1 to Southwest.

I'm sitting at 15 new cards in the past 24 months, I am shut out of the CSR until time passes and that number dips below 5. Later this year it seems. I have stopped applying for new cards. If I kept it up, in theory I would never qualify for the CSR.

How many retired people does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Only one, but he takes all day.

Barefootgirl wrote:I've never flown Southwest before, but just learned they are my best bet for flights between IAD and ATL. I'll be making several of those flights over the coming year.

Going to look into their points program. Any tips for saving or earning with them, is appreciated.

1) The Chase Sapphire Reserve is still your best bet. You can earn 100K Ultimate Reward points if you open in branch. Ultimate Rewards transfer 1:1 to Southwest.

2) There are three Southwest credit cards: Business, Premier Personal, and Plus Personal. Right now you can get an unprecedented 60K bonus from the business card. You can get a 50K bonus from the personal cards. The Plus card has a lower annual fee.

3) If you get 110K points in one calendar year, you'll get the companion pass which is awesome. Google it. Ultimate Reward transfers don't count but miles from the Southwest credit card do, so you can get there with two credit card bonuses.

FYI, points transferred from Ultimate Rewards do not count towards the companion pass.

How long did it take them to payout the bonus? They are telling me you have to wait until the 90 days is up then one more statement cycle before the bonus will hit...

Haven't received the statement credit yet. I read the rewards portion of the agreement and it stated 1-2 billing cycles. Which means it will be paid off by the time the credit hits. I've had that happen before. I use the credit by purchasing the exact amount with a gas purchase. Works out fine.

pennstater2005 wrote:Just finished the Wells Fargo $150 bonus with 1k spend. Just got the Barclay Card Arrival which is 50,000 points. I don't travel so I'll be doing the partial redemption for $250 in Home Depot gift cards to get a sweet Bluetooth controlled electric smoker

I've got a $500+ travel purchase I need to make. How about you do the purchase for me, and I'll send you the cost minus $125.

We'll both come out $125 ahead!

I still get my sweet smoker though, right

Of course.

But seriously, you must know somebody that you can trust that is making a $500 travel purchase. Offer to do it with your credit card for a $100 discount to them. They will accept, and you'll come out $150 ahead.

pennstater2005 wrote:Just finished the Wells Fargo $150 bonus with 1k spend. Just got the Barclay Card Arrival which is 50,000 points. I don't travel so I'll be doing the partial redemption for $250 in Home Depot gift cards to get a sweet Bluetooth controlled electric smoker

I've got a $500+ travel purchase I need to make. How about you do the purchase for me, and I'll send you the cost minus $125.

We'll both come out $125 ahead!

I still get my sweet smoker though, right

Of course.

But seriously, you must know somebody that you can trust that is making a $500 travel purchase. Offer to do it with your credit card for a $100 discount to them. They will accept, and you'll come out $150 ahead.

I actually don't. I might end up using it for some travel related something. It would be hard to leave $250 on the table.

Sorry to hear that. Did Chase tell you immediately or only some time after you became a CPC?

SO applied for CSP online. Decision is pending, which is a bit disconcerting. Response said that decision could take up to 30 days and would be delivered by mail. It's been about a week now. I would think he should hear fairly soon, either way. Hard to believe that it will drag on for an entire month. He successfully got CSR and shouldn't have bumped up against 5/24 rule. Off the top of my head I would think he's at most got 2 new cards in the last 24 months. Even if it's 3 that should be well below 5. His credit score should be fine too (800-plus?).

Sorry to hear that. Did Chase tell you immediately or only some time after you became a CPC?

SO applied for CSP online. Decision is pending, which is a bit disconcerting. Response said that decision could take up to 30 days and would be delivered by mail. It's been about a week now. I would think he should hear fairly soon, either way. Hard to believe that it will drag on for an entire month. He successfully got CSR and shouldn't have bumped up against 5/24 rule. Off the top of my head I would think he's at most got 2 new cards in the last 24 months. Even if it's 3 that should be well below 5. His credit score should be fine too (800-plus?).

I wonder if Chase is clamping down on things.

I thought 30 days was the rejection message. My SO and I both applied of a new Chase card and got the 30-day message and it was a rejection for both of us. I called the Recon line and got it approved by moving credit around and my SO just had to provide more information, but had we not called, it would have been a rejection for both of us. It might be Recon Line time. Keep in mind there is a new number.

Sorry to hear that. Did Chase tell you immediately or only some time after you became a CPC?

SO applied for CSP online. Decision is pending, which is a bit disconcerting. Response said that decision could take up to 30 days and would be delivered by mail. It's been about a week now. I would think he should hear fairly soon, either way. Hard to believe that it will drag on for an entire month. He successfully got CSR and shouldn't have bumped up against 5/24 rule. Off the top of my head I would think he's at most got 2 new cards in the last 24 months. Even if it's 3 that should be well below 5. His credit score should be fine too (800-plus?).

I wonder if Chase is clamping down on things.

I thought 30 days was the rejection message. My SO and I both applied of a new Chase card and got the 30-day message and it was a rejection for both of us. I called the Recon line and got it approved by moving credit around and my SO just had to provide more information, but had we not called, it would have been a rejection for both of us. It might be Recon Line time. Keep in mind there is a new number.

Not necessarily. I got the 30 day message and eventually got approved without calling. Chase sent a letter stating they would need to reconfigure my credit lines before approving the card and to let them know if I didn't agree.

CSR question: If you get the CSR and the 100k points, what airlines can they be used for? How do you redeem those cards.
Do you use their website to search for flights? Or book flights on your own and use the points to pay? (I'm accustomed to the CapOne card....

ddunca1944 wrote:CSR question: If you get the CSR and the 100k points, what airlines can they be used for? How do you redeem those cards.
Do you use their website to search for flights? Or book flights on your own and use the points to pay? (I'm accustomed to the CapOne card....

You could do either. With the CSR, you are guaranteed to get 1.5 cents per point when you use the Ultimate Rewards Portal. The portal just got upgraded for flights, it now allows you to book Premium Economy, which is nice. The other option is to transfer it to a hotel or airline partner. Here are the transfer partners: http://thetravelsisters.com/chase-ultim ... -partners/.

Some are better than others and it usually depends. British Airways, for instance, is usually better to book on the UR portal because British Airways award flights that involve London involve heavy fuel surcharges which eliminate the use of the reward travel in the first place. How you make the transfer is you already have to have a rewards account with the airline. An example is a Rapid Rewards membership at Southwest. You then go onto the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. You hover over "Use points" and then "transfer to travel partners" and it is pretty self-explanatory from there.

Being a minimalist and a Boglehead, I really prefer simplicity, especially financially. I just use a Capital One Quicksilver Visa for 1.5% cash back on everything, with a single check mailed to me every January that gets sent to my Vanguard taxable account. I spent an insane amount last year for not-so-great reasons, so I got over $1,200 last month. It'll probably be under $200 next January, so almost not even worth sending to Vanguard again.

I did just get an Amex Blue Cash Everyday card last month (to replace my useless Blue Sky card, which is still active for now), but I'm finding that I've lowered my expenses so much, it really doesn't feel worth bothering with since it'd take around 3-4 months just to get to the $25 reward minimum. However, I've been with Amex since 2000 so that really helps keep my credit score high (plus both cards have $25k limits, the Blue Sky is $18k), so while I'd prefer to just use the Capital One and scrap Amex altogether, I feel like I should keep using it from a credit profile perspective. (I already cancelled my less-than-useless $9k Wells Fargo Visa, though.)

BeneIRA wrote:I thought 30 days was the rejection message. My SO and I both applied of a new Chase card and got the 30-day message and it was a rejection for both of us. I called the Recon line and got it approved by moving credit around and my SO just had to provide more information, but had we not called, it would have been a rejection for both of us. It might be Recon Line time. Keep in mind there is a new number.

How long did you have to wait for the rejection letter to arrive? Did it take close to 30 days or was it pretty fast for Chase to notify you they were declining to grant you the card?

Based on my Google search I saw something about a new number as of September 2016. I guess this may be the one you're referring to. I've never had occasion to call a Recon Line, but I assume that when you call it's pretty straightforward.

Edit: It's only been about a week since SO applied. As that's still fairly recent, I guess it's better to wait to consider calling Recon Line, right? Looks like I kind of cut things close as my big ticket items I intended to charge to his card are coming up soon. I didn't plan for the possibility of his application being declined. Ugh.

Last edited by rjbraun on Wed Feb 08, 2017 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

SRenaeP wrote:
Not necessarily. I got the 30 day message and eventually got approved without calling. Chase sent a letter stating they would need to reconfigure my credit lines before approving the card and to let them know if I didn't agree.

-Steph

Steph, how quickly were you notified of the reconfigured credit lines? Just trying to figure out if SO has a chance of getting the card. If not, I may try to apply for a new card, not necessarily with Chase, as I have some upcoming sizable tickets to pay and would like to try to score a sign-on bonus.

Sorry to hear that. Did Chase tell you immediately or only some time after you became a CPC?

SO applied for CSP online. Decision is pending, which is a bit disconcerting. Response said that decision could take up to 30 days and would be delivered by mail. It's been about a week now. I would think he should hear fairly soon, either way. Hard to believe that it will drag on for an entire month. He successfully got CSR and shouldn't have bumped up against 5/24 rule. Off the top of my head I would think he's at most got 2 new cards in the last 24 months. Even if it's 3 that should be well below 5. His credit score should be fine too (800-plus?).

I wonder if Chase is clamping down on things.

They may want to verify some information. If that's the case he will get declined unless he calls. They can instantly approve him if he calls.

SRenaeP wrote:
Not necessarily. I got the 30 day message and eventually got approved without calling. Chase sent a letter stating they would need to reconfigure my credit lines before approving the card and to let them know if I didn't agree.

-Steph

Steph, how quickly were you notified of the reconfigured credit lines? Just trying to figure out if SO has a chance of getting the card. If not, I may try to apply for a new card, not necessarily with Chase, as I have some upcoming sizable tickets to pay and would like to try to score a sign-on bonus.

I believe it was within a week. If you already have a Chase account, login and take a look. I actually saw the new online account and realized I was approved before the letter even arrived.

SRenaeP wrote:
Not necessarily. I got the 30 day message and eventually got approved without calling. Chase sent a letter stating they would need to reconfigure my credit lines before approving the card and to let them know if I didn't agree.

-Steph

Steph, how quickly were you notified of the reconfigured credit lines? Just trying to figure out if SO has a chance of getting the card. If not, I may try to apply for a new card, not necessarily with Chase, as I have some upcoming sizable tickets to pay and would like to try to score a sign-on bonus.

I believe it was within a week. If you already have a Chase account, login and take a look. I actually saw the new online account and realized I was approved before the letter even arrived.

-Steph

YIPPEE!!! Looks as if SO got approved for CSP! Never thought to check his online Chase account, even though that's how he applied

Didn't see any message or anything, just a new entry for the CSP card. I wonder if they reconfigured his credit lines. Not sure what CSR was to begin with, so can't really compare. Both look reasonable enough ($20k or higher)

Sorry to hear that. Did Chase tell you immediately or only some time after you became a CPC?

SO applied for CSP online. Decision is pending, which is a bit disconcerting. Response said that decision could take up to 30 days and would be delivered by mail. It's been about a week now. I would think he should hear fairly soon, either way. Hard to believe that it will drag on for an entire month. He successfully got CSR and shouldn't have bumped up against 5/24 rule. Off the top of my head I would think he's at most got 2 new cards in the last 24 months. Even if it's 3 that should be well below 5. His credit score should be fine too (800-plus?).

I wonder if Chase is clamping down on things.

They may want to verify some information. If that's the case he will get declined unless he calls. They can instantly approve him if he calls.

SRenaeP wrote:
Not necessarily. I got the 30 day message and eventually got approved without calling. Chase sent a letter stating they would need to reconfigure my credit lines before approving the card and to let them know if I didn't agree.

-Steph

Steph, how quickly were you notified of the reconfigured credit lines? Just trying to figure out if SO has a chance of getting the card. If not, I may try to apply for a new card, not necessarily with Chase, as I have some upcoming sizable tickets to pay and would like to try to score a sign-on bonus.

I believe it was within a week. If you already have a Chase account, login and take a look. I actually saw the new online account and realized I was approved before the letter even arrived.

-Steph

YIPPEE!!! Looks as if SO got approved for CSP! Never thought to check his online Chase account, even though that's how he applied

Didn't see any message or anything, just a new entry for the CSP card. I wonder if they reconfigured his credit lines. Not sure what CSR was to begin with, so can't really compare. Both look reasonable enough ($20k or higher)

Thanks for the brilliant idea, Steph!

Edit: Steph, just reread your earlier post. I guess the letter arrived after you saw online your card approval. In that case, I suppose SO could still receive notification of reconfigured credit lines, but as long as he gets the new card, that's all we really care about. Thanks again for the help

SRenaeP wrote:
Not necessarily. I got the 30 day message and eventually got approved without calling. Chase sent a letter stating they would need to reconfigure my credit lines before approving the card and to let them know if I didn't agree.

-Steph

Steph, how quickly were you notified of the reconfigured credit lines? Just trying to figure out if SO has a chance of getting the card. If not, I may try to apply for a new card, not necessarily with Chase, as I have some upcoming sizable tickets to pay and would like to try to score a sign-on bonus.

I believe it was within a week. If you already have a Chase account, login and take a look. I actually saw the new online account and realized I was approved before the letter even arrived.

-Steph

YIPPEE!!! Looks as if SO got approved for CSP! Never thought to check his online Chase account, even though that's how he applied

Didn't see any message or anything, just a new entry for the CSP card. I wonder if they reconfigured his credit lines. Not sure what CSR was to begin with, so can't really compare. Both look reasonable enough ($20k or higher)

Thanks for the brilliant idea, Steph!

Edit: Steph, just reread your earlier post. I guess the letter arrived after you saw online your card approval. In that case, I suppose SO could still receive notification of reconfigured credit lines, but as long as he gets the new card, that's all we really care about. Thanks again for the help

You're welcome. I'm glad it worked out for you/SO. Like you, I don't really care about if/how they reconfigured the credit lines.

Barefootgirl wrote:I've never flown Southwest before, but just learned they are my best bet for flights between IAD and ATL. I'll be making several of those flights over the coming year.

Going to look into their points program. Any tips for saving or earning with them, is appreciated.

1) The Chase Sapphire Reserve is still your best bet. You can earn 100K Ultimate Reward points if you open in branch. Ultimate Rewards transfer 1:1 to Southwest.

2) There are three Southwest credit cards: Business, Premier Personal, and Plus Personal. Right now you can get an unprecedented 60K bonus from the business card. You can get a 50K bonus from the personal cards. The Plus card has a lower annual fee.

3) If you get 110K points in one calendar year, you'll get the companion pass which is awesome. Google it. Ultimate Reward transfers don't count but miles from the Southwest credit card do, so you can get there with two credit card bonuses.

-Barefootgirl-

There are really only 2 "strategy goals" with Southwest, if you will, and Bfwolf covered one side. Unfortunately SW is quite simple, they don't have too many layers or perks you can shoot for, which makes it both straight-forward to pick your goal, but also not a lot of excitement, IMHO. If accumulating points is your goal, then the above is very helpful, along with shooting for the CP (if you have a spouse or someone you can get the ROI out of it with). There really are not a lot of ways to earn more SW points other than simply flying (and buying more expensive fares, ie business select over wanna get away) or using the CC strategies with one of the SW Chase branded cards (and even those only give you 2x points per dollar, so the CSR is actually better than SW's own card, once you spend enough for the 50-60k bonuses).

I fly 20-30 legs a year for work, enough to maintain A-list status, which is the other side of it. The three layers of SW are A-List, A-List Preferred, and the Companion Pass. Need to fly 25 legs or 35k points in a year to hit A-List, and 100 flights for Preferred. For business travelers, I find the A-List to be a very nice perk worth hitting every year - priority boarding (usually always get A1-60 level pass, if not, you get to board in between A and B levels no matter what, pretty much always guarantees an isle or window seat), priority checkin lane if you ever need to go to the checkin gate, faster security line (if no TSA already), 25% points earning bonus, faster response on phone calls, etc. Preferred adds 100% earning bonus and free wifi on every flight. Companion Pass part is obvious - you get to add a companion to any flight you take, for the rest of that year you earned the CP perk, plus the next full calendar year. Can be worth a lot of money if you have a spouse or friend that can travel with you often. I had it last year, used a few times, but honestly didn't use it as much as I thought because wife cannot fly with me 90% of the time since she works her own job. And SW doesn't fly to several of the places we went last year (Maui, international, Montreal). So, think that one through before you put out the effort to chase down the CP (thepointsguy has several in-depth articles to review that will tell you what you need).

Otherwise the only other way to earn more points is through the random promotions they run - usually 1 per quarter - earn 2x points for ABC or similar things to that nature. Like others, they also have shopping portals and dining points for using the branded CC at certain restaurants and whatnot.

I am looking at a family trip to South America, seems like a good card to get - 60,000 points.

I hadn't heard of this card but just looked it up. Assuming you're based in the US, it seems like it would only be really worthwhile if your home airport is MIA. Otherwise, there are too many connections for my taste.

I am looking at a family trip to South America, seems like a good card to get - 60,000 points.

I hadn't heard of this card but just looked it up. Assuming you're based in the US, it seems like it would only be really worthwhile if your home airport is MIA. Otherwise, there are too many connections for my taste.

-Steph

If you don't mind connections, it looks pretty good. Only have to make 1 purchase to get the points. That does not happen very often.